Palestinian and Israeli women plan to join forces on Wednesday afternoon to march for peace in Jerusalem and the Dead Sea and to call for female voices at the negotiating table.
“It is time for courageous leaders to generate hope for a better future for our children,” said Yael Admi, one of the founders and leaders of the Israel-based group Women Wage Peace which is a co-sponsor of the march together with the Palestinian group Women of the Sun.
A founder of the latter group Reem Hajajri said, “more and more women join the movement, women who want to protect their children and prevent them from being the next victim.
“We started out as a movement with a few lone women and now we are thousands from the West Bank and Gaza.
“We no longer take the back seat and are determined to act persistently to end the cycle of bloodshed and to achieve freedom and a just, honorable life for Palestinian and Israeli children,” she said.
Politicians and foreign diplomats to join march
The groups draw women of all political stripes around a central belief in peace and demand that women be included in the peacemaking process.
The march will begin at 1 p.m. in Jerusalem at the Monument of Tolerance and proceed for one kilometer along the Goldman Promenade in Jerusalem’s Armon HaNatziv neighborhood.
At 3:30 p.m. buses will bring the women to the area of the Neveh Midbar beach at the Dead Sea for a series of events including a peace quilt and the artistic installation by Sigalit Landeau of an empty peace table.
Diplomats posted in Israel as well as politicians from abroad will participate in the event including Stephanie Hallett, Chargé d’Affaires, US Embassy Jerusalem and Sonya McGuinness, Ambassador designate at the Irish Embassy in Israel and Viviane Teitelbaum who is a member of Belgium’s regional parliament and Vice-President, European Women’s Lobby.
Eva Biaudet a Finnish Member of Parliament, said she came to Israel just for this event to support the courageous Israeli and Palestinian women.
“In Finland, my generation has not experienced war” although they have seen “violence but in the private sphere.”
“Now when we are seeing Russia’s war against Ukraine you see how fragile peace is,” she said. It’s a reminder that “women need to be more present in decision-making.”
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